Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") govern your use of the web hosting, managed server, and DevOps consultancy services ("Services") provided by DS Web Services ("we", "us", "our"). By signing up for or using our Services, you ("the client", "you") agree to these Terms. Please read them together with our Privacy Policy.

1. Services

We provide shared web hosting, managed servers, and related DevOps consultancy. Shared hosting includes a defined allocation of disk space, domains, email accounts, and databases according to the plan you select. Managed services are scoped and agreed with you in writing before work begins.

All infrastructure is self-hosted on servers located in South Africa. We do not resell third-party cloud hosting for the storage of client data.

Pricing is subject to change. Current plan pricing is confirmed with you directly before signup, quoted in South African Rand (ZAR). Prices quoted at the time of signup are confirmed in your welcome email and reflected on your invoice. We may revise plan pricing on reasonable prior notice; changes apply from your next billing cycle.

2. Payment Terms

Services are billed monthly in advance in South African Rand (ZAR) via our billing system. Invoices are payable within seven (7) days of the invoice date. If payment is not received within this window, we may suspend the affected Services until the account is brought up to date.

Continued non-payment may result in termination of the account and deletion of hosted data. Reactivation of a suspended account may be subject to a reasonable administrative fee. All amounts are exclusive of any bank charges you incur in making payment.

3. Acceptable Use

You agree that you will not use the Services to host, transmit, or facilitate:

• Unsolicited bulk or commercial email (spam), or any activity that results in our mail servers or IP ranges being blacklisted;
• Content that is illegal under South African law, including material that infringes intellectual property rights;
• Malware, phishing pages, or content intended to defraud or harm others;
• Activity that abuses shared resources — including sustained excessive CPU, memory, disk I/O, or bandwidth use that degrades service for other clients.

We may investigate suspected violations and, where necessary, suspend the offending Services to protect our infrastructure and other clients. Where practical we will contact you first, but urgent risks to the platform may require immediate action.

4. Service Availability

We provide the Services on a best-effort basis and aim for high availability, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. Scheduled maintenance windows, and any downtime caused by factors outside our reasonable control (including upstream network, power, or third-party failures), are excluded from any availability commitment. Where reasonably possible, we will give advance notice of planned maintenance.

5. Data and Backups

You are responsible for maintaining your own backups of your data. While we run periodic backups of hosted data as an operational courtesy, these backups are not guaranteed and should not be relied upon as your sole means of recovery. We are not liable for any loss of data, and you should keep independent, up-to-date copies of anything you cannot afford to lose.

6. Account Termination

You may cancel your Services by giving us at least thirty (30) days' written notice to [email protected]. You remain liable for fees up to the end of the notice period.

We may suspend or terminate your account where you materially breach these Terms, violate the Acceptable Use policy, or fail to pay amounts due. On termination, hosted data may be deleted after a reasonable grace period. We will retain records where required by law (see our Privacy Policy for retention details).

7. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss — including loss of profit, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunity — arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Services. Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim is limited to the fees you paid us for the Services in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including your rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2008.

8. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and you submit to the jurisdiction of the South African courts. These Terms are subject to the Consumer Protection Act, 2008, where it applies to you.

9. Disputes & Contact

If you have a complaint or dispute, contact us first at [email protected] so we can try to resolve it directly. We will acknowledge your query and work with you in good faith toward a resolution.